Zemànkova, Anna

Portrait d'Anna Zemankova

Author

Zemànkova, Anna (1890-1950), Czech Republic

Biography

Anna Zemànkova was born in Olomouc, Moravia. After leaving school she worked as a dental technician before getting married and having two children. In 1948 she moved with her family to Prague but later, aged 52, sank into a state of depression. That was when she started to produce her first paintings. These permitted her access to a parallel world that, according to her, was more rewarding than the real world. She had the feeling of harnessing magnetic forces that usually elude representation. This belief made her somewhat similar to spiritualist creators.The motifs of her compositions emerged during the course of execution. Apart from pastels and pen-and-ink drawings, she resorted to original techniques: perforation of the support material and embossing, in other words, pressed relief patterns produced on hand-made rag paper. Later she would also paint on silk or satin.See more on www.annazemankova.cz